City Health Office urges SP to amend ordinance on dengue prevention

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/June 26) — The City Health Office (CHO) here is urging the Sangguniang Panlungsod to amend City Ordinance No. 0401-20 to address the low compliance of barangays in creating their own Barangay Mosquito-Borne Viral Disease Task Forces (BMDTF).

To help prevent dengue, the City Council passed Ordinance 0401-20 in 2020 for barangays to create their BMDTF and to impose penalties on residents found to have mosquito breeding sites in their homes. Its Implementing Rules and Regulations are stipulated in Executive Order No. 25 issued in 2023. 

But only 58 out of 182 barangays or only 31.9% have BMDTFs despite “targeted and intensive campaign in each barangay,” Melodina Babante, CHO tropical division coordinator, told a press conference at the City Mayor’s Office conference room on Thursday morning.

She added that the CHO is urging the SP to amend the ordinance and impose penalties on barangays that have not set up their BMDTFs. 

Section 2 of the Ordinance states that it is the policy of the City of Davao to “protect the health and well-being of its people / constituents” and adopt a barangay-based approach to ensure the cooperation of the people in cleaning the areas with breeding sites within their control and ultimately, eradicating mosquito-borne diseases. 

^{Personnel of the City Health Office conducts fogging operation as part of an anti-dengue measure in Davao City. Mindanews file photo}

The Punong Barangay is tasked to organize and submit a list of the members of his BMDTF within 15 days supposedly after the approval of IRR in 2023. 

The BMDTF, according to the ordinance are tasked to prepare programs for the prevention and control of mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs); conduct education and training programs on pest/mosquito management; prepare activities scheduled throughout the year to control the occurrence of MBDs; make public announcements/notices regarding MBDs, and related matters; coordinate with other government agencies especially the City Health Office in order to achieve its goals; ensure proper implementation of its programs; make quarterly reports to the City Mayor, through the City Health Office, regarding the incidence of MBDs in their respective areas and the activities conducted to prevent or control such illnesses; conduct household surveillance of at least 100 households per week; report, refer and monitor suspected dengue cases to Barangay Health Centers; and 

oversee the transportation of suspected Dengue patients to the nearest

district health office for Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT), with the subsequent

transfer of those with “probable” results to the nearest hospital for early

referral and management.

Babante added that even if the cases went down from 1,942 dengue cases in January to June 2024 to 1,682 cases for the same period in 2025, the need for stricter implementation in barangays is a must.

In random monitorings in barangays, Babante said, the CHO’s sanitation and environmental unit, as well as the tropical diseases unit, are supposed to work with the BMDTFs. Residents found to be violating Section 13 of the ordinance are to be penalized. 

Section 13 states that prohibited acts subject to fines are storing old tires and batteries, steel or plastic drums, empty bottles, unused jars and water tank without proper covering, making them possible mosquito breeding sites; storing of rain or tap water in containers not properly covered when used in households and in relation to the pursuit of business, such as vulcanizing and battery repair shops and junk shops; and failure of vacant lot owners to clean their property, making it a possible mosquito breeding site;

Section 14 of Ordinance No. 0401-20 provides that residents who violate the ordinance are to pay a fine of P1,000 and a two-day community service for first offenders; a fine of P3,000 and a four-hour community service for the second offenders; and a P5,000 fine and a four-hour community service for the third offenders.

“It will not obviously dramatically decrease the dengue cases, but it could possibly help in its own way,” Babante said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes dengue as a viral infection transmitted through mosquito bites. The disease has various serotypes, including dengue virus types (DENV) 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Among the signs exhibited by a dengue victim are sudden onset of high fever which may last from two to seven days, joint and muscle pain and pain behind the eyes, weakness, skin rashes, nose bleeding when fever starts to subside, abdominal pain, vomiting of coffee-colored matter, dark-colored stools, and difficulty of breathing. (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)